Making Dried Apple Slices

I have been picking apples and giving them away for the past week. Instead of giving them all away, I thought it would be a good idea to put my dehydrator into use. I picked up this 8-tier American Harvest dehydrator earlier this year after I raided the chantrelle gold mine.

I considered getting one of those hand cranking apple peeler/corer, but then I remembered that I have a mandoline slicer. I normally eat apples without peeling them anyway; besides, these are organic apples from my farm. I ended up just getting an apple corer.

To prevent the sliced apples turning brown from oxidization, I first prepared a bowl of lemon juice mixed with water and some salt. I sliced the cored apples directly into the lemon salty water and let them soak. As you can see from the picture, they didn't turn brown at all. You can see that they are not all in perfect rings. That's because I cut off all the blemishes.

After the bowl was filled with apple slices, I took them out and lined them up in the trays of dehydrator. It's best for them not to overlap. I set the dehydrator at 140 degrees. I made my slices pretty thin, so they will most likely be ready in a few hours before I turn in for the night. Oh, I also put a very fragrant rose in the dehydrator. I can actually smell the apples as they are drying.

Update: They weren't actually quite done last night. I lowered the temperature to 95 degrees, the lowest setting on the dehydrator, before I went to sleep. This morning, I stuffed them in 2 ziplock bags.

Finished! Perfect snack for later.

Heat Wave Evacuation

7:33 PM and it's still over 80 degrees in the sun room

Minutes after I left the farm this morning, I knew that I had to go back. The sun was out. It was barely 9 AM and already 69 degrees. Surely when I got to the office, I saw a heat wave alert on sfgate.com. The temperature was going to reach 90 degrees, which meant it would be about 100 degrees in the sun room, where Dusty stays most of the time. It is also where I keep my seedlings.

Dusty escaped being roasted

I drove back to the farm around noon, and it felt like a sauna in the sun room. Dusty was hiding inside of his Fuji Apple box. I took him outside to his cage, fill the water bottle, and brought him a piece of apple and wood block. I also moved the 2 trays of plants out of there. 3 years ago, my tomato seedlings burnt to a crisp during one of these heat waves. I can't let that happen to my passion fruit vines that took me more than 6 months to root.

I got home after 7 PM, and it was still over 80 degrees in the sun room. I watered all the vegetable beds and the Japanese maple trees in the front. Tomorrow morning, I'll be sure to put Dusty outside in his shady cage.

All live plants were evacuated from the scorching sun room

MSSF Annual Summer Picnic

Lego Amanita Muscaria

I have been a member of MSSF (Mycological Society of San Francisco) for at least 5 years now, and this year I decided to attend the annual picnic for the first time at Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland.

Apple Upside Down Cake I baked this morning

I got up just in time to bake a couple Apple Upside Down Cake for the picnic. Mushroom people love food and homemade organic dishes.  This beautiful honey comb came from someone's backyard beehive. I look forward to keep some bees in the future.

Honey comb from an urban beekeeper. Wow!

I chatted with Don, who made the pasta with morel mushrooms. He showed me a bunch of pictures of the giant morels he gathered this year.  He's been a mushroom hunter for 25 years! Mushrooms talk to him and guide him to their locations. He said it took 10 years for  him to acquire that 6th sense. I guess I have 5 more years to go. Can't wait!

Curried Cauliflower Flatbread and Pasta with Morel Mushrooms

Carol brought her signature deviled eggs with morels on top!  Judging by the feast today, I can't imagine what MSSF monthly culinary group dinner is like. I shall attend my first culinary group dinner this upcoming season as well.

Deviled Eggs with Morel Mushrooms!

Help Wanted

There comes a time when one must seek for help, and that time has come for me. For the last 6 months, I have been nursing some passion fruit cuttings. It took months for them to root, and now I have 3 glossy green passion fruit plants in green house #2. Before I plant them outside, I need to rebuild the beat up trellis.

Instead of rebuilding it with wood, I would like to use bamboo. I want a more Asian appeal and environmental friendly material. The trickiest part of the project is the big crack on the cement base. You can't really see the crack from the pictures but the crack causes the structure to be slanted which you can see in the next 2 pictures.

My friend Joseph, who just started his own gardening business, came by today to check out the trellis. The project is a little bigger than he anticipated. He said this structure is an arbor not a trellis. Okay. I really wasn't sure what the appropriate name is. Joseph will take on another project instead of Bamboo Trellis project.

On Sunday, Neal, who I met at Permaculture Solstice Convergence, is coming to take a look. I expect more inquiries from Merritt College students once the classes start again next week.

Asparagus Lemon Gelato

Eggless Asparagus Lemon Gelato

I bought a bunch of young asparagus a few days ago. When I was breaking off the tough parts of the asparagus, I thought I would save those parts to make asparagus tea. Within seconds that idea turned into asparagus gelato. What would complement asparagus? No, I am not putting Parmesan cheese in gelato. Think. Think about what I have on the farm. Ah! Lemon! That's it, asparagus lemon gelato.

You might think it's weird to use asparagus for a dessert. I just Googled for asparagus lemon gelato and no hits. Maybe it's original. Asparagus iced tea is quite popular in Taiwan, and you can get it in Asian markets in cans or juice boxes. It is usually sweetened. If it's good as a sweet cold drink, I know it can work as gelato.

I boiled the parts of asparagus in just enough water to cover them and left the asparagus flavored water in the fridge overnight. After I made the custard with whole milk, I left it to cool completely before putting it in the fridge for an hour. The ice cream maker works better when all the ingredients are cold.

The "quick freeze cyclinder bowl" didn't seem to be cold enough when I made my rose gelato. After doing some research via Google, I left it in the freezer for a week. I also made the eggless custard a lot thicker than last time. As soon as the paddle started churning, I could see a big difference.

I poured in the lemon zest and juice while the milk custard mix is churning. It got so cold that the peddle couldn't turn anymore after 15 minutes. The texture is very creamy. This is much more like what I was aiming for. Next time, I'll use Farm Village asparagus instead. Yes, there are asparagus growing in one of the raised beds, but I tend not to notice them until they start flowering.